Friday, June 15, 2012

Dalai Lama's speech to Yorkshire business leaders - BBC News

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, is due to deliver a "keynote" speech to a gathering of business leaders in West Yorkshire.

He is expected to discuss business ethics at the Yorkshire International Business Convention in Leeds.

China had earlier threatened to pull its athletes out of their Leeds Olympic training camp because of the visit.

The speech is expected to go ahead but Leeds City Council has removed any association with the convention.

'Ethics and morality'

Tibet is governed as an autonomous region of China and Beijing claims a centuries-old sovereignty over the Himalayan region.

But the allegiances of many Tibetans lie with the Dalai Lama, seen by his followers as a living god, but by China as a separatist threat.

Leeds is due to host China's pre-Olympic Games training centre, with about 220 athletes, coaches and support staff based in the city from early July.

Leeds City Council said the hosting deal was worth £250,000.

The Dalai Lama is the latest high-profile guest at the Yorkshire International Business Convention.

Previous speakers have included astronaut Neil Armstrong, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Bill Clinton.

Mike Firth, convention founder, said: "He is one of the most travelled men in the world, he has spoken with the most prominent of world leaders, and is one of the most high-profile guests we have ever had."

Mr Thubten Samdup, representative of the Dalai Lama, said the speech was "a wonderful opportunity for Yorkshire's business leaders to hear a distinctive message of ethics and morality from one of the world's most revered spiritual leaders".